Kentucky forward Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso plans to transfer

According to On3’s Jamie Shaw, Kentucky forward Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Kentucky was not wanting to lose Onyenso per Jack Pilgrim of Kentucky Sports Radio. The Wildcats big man requested his transfer paperwork before the weekend, where the staff attempted to keep him in Lexington. There was no luck from head coach John Calipari and Onyenso will become a popular man in the portal.

“Ugonna Onyenso officially requested his transfer paperwork last Thursday evening, sources tell KSR,” Pilgrim said. “Kentucky spent the weekend hoping to change his camp’s mind before sending it in. Didn’t happen. A long list of suitors already lining up to bring the 7-footer in.”

Onyseno spent just one season at Kentucky after reclassifying to the 2022 recruiting class and committing to the Wildcats. He averaged 2.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.0 blocked shots per game.

The talented big man is just scratching the surface of his potential but played in only 16 games for the Wildcats.

“Ugonna has unbelievable natural athleticism and great instincts for a young player,” Calipari said after signing him. “He is going to be able to defend at the rim and is a terrific finisher. Ugonna has only been in the United States since January (2022) but has been fully immersed in basketball for several years with his experience at the NBA Academy in Africa. The staff and I are excited to help push him every day in a competitive and focused environment as he continues to improve and become the best version of himself both on and off the floor.”

Ugonna Onyenso was rated as one of the top players in the country after reclassifying in 2022.

According to the On3 Industry Rankings, he was the No. 27 overall player in the country. He was the No. 4 center prospect and the No. 1 overall player in the state of Connecticut after playing his last pre-college year at the Putnam Science Academy.

Onyenso has tremendous size, listed as a 6-foot-11, 225-pound forward for Kentucky this season.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.